Watching Peter Dutton deliver his nuclear power announcement at a press conference on June 19 was a reminder of two things. The first was a recent observation by former Victorian Liberal Party strategist Tony Barry that the Coalition commitment to nuclear energy “is the longest suicide note in Australia’s political history”. The second reminder is Continue reading »
politics
In all liberal democracies, Australia included, national self-regard resists identification with the harsh implications of reliance on, or celebration of, military force – unless it can be viably represented as defence of freedom, just war, or wars against unspeakable Others. An updated Pearls & Irritations repost from December 23, 2020 And, in the case of liberal Continue reading »
There’s something curious about the proposed merger between Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare. Chemist Warehouse has about 550 retail pharmacies. Sigma has another 400. Yet the law limits owners to just a handful of pharmacies per state. Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria allow just five, Western Australia and Tasmania allow four, and South Australia allows six. The two Continue reading »
There are vital lessons and warnings that must be considered in the freeing of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. He survived. He’s free. He’s home. Notwithstanding his abuse and torture for over a decade, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has successfully waited it out. There’s little doubt that his release was assisted by political pressures coinciding with Continue reading »
As the Australian opposition leader’s rhetoric softens dramatically, the days of turning China into an election wedge appear over. China hawks predictably attacked the Albanese government for being too soft on Beijing during Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Australia last week. After reiterating a commitment to ‘‘stabilising’’ ties, Li and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Continue reading »
Hamas’s assault of October 7 can be likened to an earthquake that strikes an old building. The cracks were already beginning to show, but they are now visible in its very foundations. More than 120 years since its inception, could the Zionist project in Palestine – the idea of imposing a Jewish state on an Continue reading »
It has been demonstrated by the CSIRO, the International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol and the former Chief Scientist (Finkel) that even allowing for additional expenditure on transmission and storage (battery, pumped hydro, thermal) renewables are cheaper and available in a shorter time frame than nuclear in the Australian context. Dutton seems to be making Continue reading »
Peter Dutton’s shadow minister for home and foreign affairs, Barnaby Joyce, has apologised after accidentally sending the hawk tuah video to all his contacts, for the second time this week. ”What can I say, I’m a bit clumsy when it... Read More ›
Despite the various factors that contributed to Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s loss, progressive strategists said there was one clear takeaway from the results.
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